A few months ago, I was looking around the internet for prices on cnc routers. I was interested in starting a business making wooden signs, the ones you see at the end of driveways with the property owners family name on them. I stumbled upon some sites and forums with plans on building your own. I started reading "build threads" in the forums and found out some guys were machining their own parts in there home shops on mills and lathes. Some even had cnc mills. I found myself side tracked looking into these types of machines and how they are used.
I have always had an interest in metal working. Most of my experience was in high school shops class and once in a while at work. So I would say I have a lot of learning to do since I have been out of school for 18 years now. I'm looking forward to it, learning that is, and getting very anxious to get my hands on some equipment to put in my shop.
I am still undecided whether to buy the mini lathe and mini mill or buy the bench models that are a little bigger with some extra power and features. I have seen videos of some mini lathes cutting some pretty tough alloys while one video I watched on YouTube of another mini lathe kept stalling out trying to cut thread on PVC pipe.
There are two things I like about the mini lathes and mini mills. One is the price. They usually sell around $600 a piece but, I have seen sales where the price is knocked down to under $300. An uncle of a co-worker picked up a mini lathe from a local store for $70 because there were tools missing. When he brought it home and opened up the crate, the tools fell out from under the base of lathe. What a deal! The other thing I like about them is that they are relatively light weight. They are under 100 lbs, so they are fairly mobile compared to their larger versions. As soon as you move up one or two sizes, you are looking at anywhere from 300 - 600 lbs. Then you have to do some creative thinking when it comes time to getting your equipment home, unpacked, and put up onto your bench. Can you say hernia.
I think I have to figure out what it is that I want to make and what the largest sized parts I will be making will be. So far I know I want to make model engines, a cnc router, and a cnc milling machine.
I want to buy the bigger sized equipment because I know if I buy the minis, I will probably find that they are not big enough and upgrade anyway. I will probably end up buying the minis anyway because I am so anxious to get started, I won't be able to wait long enough to save enough cash for the more expensive bench models. Gonna need a lot of will power.
